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Music of my mind

I grew up in the '60s. It was in a mid-sized town in California central valley. Our city had a distinct racial mix. The northern side of town was primarily white. The southern side was primarily Afro-American, Hispanic and Asian. It was almost split right down the middle. Cross over Main Street and the racial population changed.

I grew up on the south side. This radically influenced the music that I listened to. The first 45 I purchased was "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles. But as the '60's progressed, the music I listened to changed. It was not the typical top 40 of the day but the Soul Train sounds played on the stations in Oakland. Motown, Philly, Atlantic. Those were my tunes. Slow dancing to The Dells 6 minute single - "Stay in My Corner" or Smokey Robinson "Tracks of My Tears".

The Psychedelic or folk sound of San Francisco may have played on the radio in the day but it was Wolfman crackling in at night that I loved. It was not until I got to college in the early '70s that I started to listen to bands like Crosby Stills and Nash, Neil Young, Joni Michell, Quicksilver Messenger Band, The Eagles, The Dobbie Brothers.

But I never listened much to Bob Dylan. I found his voice harsh and never really understood him. Last year we saw the movie "I'm Not There" which is great both in the unique approach to a biography and the music. My mind opened to his sound. G brought home the sound track this week from the library. It has been fun to listen to the covers and realize the large number of songs that have ended up being a quilt of my generation. I have been listening to some of his original songs on You Tube along with the covers. It led me to find a great cover by Joni Mitchell of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". She recorded it in the early '90s so it is similar to much of the music she recorded in the late '80s and early '90s. I love this sound from her. And it is so different from the original I didn't recognize it.

Comments (5)

Isn't it interesting how our musical tastes can change with time? When I was a kid in the 60s and early 70s, I loathed singers like Johnny Cash and even Neil Young. Not cool enough, I suppose. But now, I've changed completely -- I think I can appreciate the authenticity of their lyrics and their sound.

Hi Marta, like you I'm not a big fan of Dylan's voice. But I love Joni Mitchell's version a lot. I had not heard of that song before. I'm going to see if it is available on i-Tunes. I found your post so interesting. Its funny how music and the times we live in are connected to each other and our experiences growing up.

YES Marta! I can totally relate to this blog and Sandrac's words ring true as well. I guess the singers of our day brought another dimension to their songs (altho I'm sure the current generation can say that of their music too) - emotional, provocative, simple yet complex. That's how I always found Dylan too - his voice was sandpapery but it was the lyrics that I found intriguing... Ahhh. thanks for the memories. m

I grew up in the 70's - Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bob Segar... BUT I also loved the music of the 60's thanks to my aunt. I liked some of Bob Dylan's music but was not a huge fan. I think I like Joni Mitchell's version better. Cool blog post!